December 13, 2015

EPA Orders Fire Prevention Steps at West Lake Landfill

By ExchangeMonitor

The Environmental Protection Agency last week ordered three businesses to develop and submit a plan for preventing surface fires at the West Lake Landfill Superfund Site in Bridgeton, Mo.

The order is a response to an Oct. 24 brush fire at West Lake Landfill, which contains radioactive waste from former uranium production at the Mallinckrodt Chemical Works in St Louis. There has also been concern over the waste’s close proximity to a smoldering fire at the Bridgeton Landfill, which is part of the overall Superfund site, due to the potential for the blaze to spread radiological materials.

The EPA’s Unilateral Administrative Order covers Bridgeton Landfill LLC and Rock Road Industries, both of which are subsidiaries of Republic Services, the West Lake Landfill site operator; and Cotter Corp., which owned the waste that a contractor deposited illegally at the landfill. Cotter is owned by General Atomics, but responsibility in this situation falls to its former owner, Exelon.

The three entities have 21 days to deliver their report to the EPA. The document must include a plan and timeline for:

· — Placing fire-resistant material in short order over areas where “radiologically impacted material” (RIM) is close to or at ground level;

· — Clearing trees and brush in those areas in the site’s Operable Unit-1, which contains radiological materials, and installing fire-resistant material over the cleared zones;

· — Testing to ensure all areas with RIM at or close to the surface is covered;

· — Air monitoring during the period of vegetation removal and cover installation; and

· — Maintaining the covers until the hazard is permanently resolved.

Republic Services will finish this work “in a safe and timely manner,” a spokesman said in a brief telephone interview. Exelon had not responded to a request for comment by press time.

Comments are closed.